Canadian Regulatory Approvals Received for Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ Products

Jun 10, 2011

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has approved Canada’s first, single bag refuge solution for corn. With this regulatory authorization, Canadian farmers will be able to benefit from the simplicity, convenience and refuge compliance benefits that Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ corn products provide.

“Previously, the Genuity® SmartStax® trait technology was approved for a reduced refuge requirement of just 5% of planted acres,” says Mike Nailor, trait product management lead, with Monsanto Canada. “With the RIB Complete™ approvals, products with this technology now have the seed required for refuge acres incorporated into the same single bag of seed.”

Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ (RIB refers to refuge in a bag) product will contain a blend of 95 percent Genuity® SmartStax® corn seed and 5 percent refuge (i.e. non-Bt) seed that farmers can plant across their entire field. Farmers who use these products will no longer need to plant a separate, structured refuge for insect pests on those given fields.

In corn production, a refuge is an integral component of good stewardship and resistance management. The refuge provides a shelter for insects susceptible to Bt technology so any rare, individual insects that survive after feeding on Bt corn can mate with susceptible insects and produce susceptible offspring. This preserves Bt technology – a technology that is vitally important to farmers because it protects the corn plant from the damaging yield losses caused by pests.

There are several benefits associated with RIB Complete™ products according to Chris Anderson, stewardship lead for Monsanto Canada.

“First and foremost, we’re providing farmers with a single-bag solution to satisfy refuge requirements associated with the use of these advanced corn technologies. The simplicity and convenience associated with managing just one type of seed bag and the savings in time and labour of not having to plan and plant a separate, structured refuge is significant in and of itself,” says Anderson.

“Now, with RIB Complete™ products, we’re able to go even further because we’re also supporting automatic compliance with CFIA-mandated refuge requirements, which makes good stewardship practices even easier to follow, and, in turn, supports the long term use, effectiveness and viability of these corn technologies,” he says. “Finally, we’re also making it easier for farmers to take advantage of the availability of more high-yielding traited acres associated with a reduced refuge requirement of just 5% of planted acres.”

Field scale demonstration sites of Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ have been established this summer across Ontario and Quebec to showcase the simplicity, convenience and automatic refuge compliance that this technology will deliver to Canadian corn farmers.

Nailor says RIB Complete™ corn hybrids will be available from a number of leading seed brands who license the Genuity® SmartStax® technology from Monsanto beginning in 2012.

“Each company that plans to offer RIB Complete™ products will have to determine which hybrids will be designated as RIB Complete™ as well as the logistical and operational considerations associated with moving to the single bag system. We expect a full commercial launch by several seed brands in 2012.”

Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monsanto Canada ULC is part of the larger global Monsanto family. Monsanto Company is an agricultural company and a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world’s natural resources such as water and energy. Learn more about our business and our commitments at www.monsanto.ca.

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